Philippine Travel Advisor

Pintaflores Festival is an annual festivity in San Carlos City , Negros Occidental featuring the traditional fiesta celebration in honor of its patron Saint San Carlos Borromeo . Pintaflores came from the Spanish word "pinta" (tattoo) and "flores" (flowers). It is in fact a combined version of the Nabingkalan Tattoo Festival and the Dance of Flowers , both of which derived from the legend of Princess Nabingka , a daughter of a chieftain from Cebu who sailed with her entourage to San Carlos in the early 17th century.  The festival showcases street dancing by "tribes" dressed in colorful ethnic-inspired costumes, their body painted with flower design reminiscent of the tattooed Visayans of the Pre Spanish Negros. How to get there: From Cebu , Ceres Bus Lines services the route between Cebu and San Carlos on an air-conditioned bus, for about P200.00 using the Lite Ferries of Fast-craft . From Bacolod , San Carlos City can be reach in abou...

La Carlota City is in the southwestern part of central Negros Island nestled in the foot of the sacred Mt. Kanla-on which is the highest peek in Central Visayas .  The rich culture of La Carlota is manifested through the celebration of Pasalamat Festival. A weeklong celebration of thanksgiving to the bountiful harvest which falls every nearest Sunday of May.  It culminates with a Mardi Gras like parade of floats and caricatures. Dancers clad in their colorful indigenous costumes. Sashaying in the tune of samba which drumbeaters created out of carabao leather drums and percussion instruments from indigenous materials.  The original "sambita" or the samba beat was first conceptualized by late Mayor Luis "Nonoy" Jalandoni Jr. In which the original Pasalamat Festival was a simple marry making and street dancing to mark the end of the milling and harvest season to give thank to God Almighty for the bountiful harvest. The first festival took place on May 1, 1980 after sev...